


the brightest star

by interstellarbeams



Category: Timeless (TV 2016)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Party, Christmas Tree, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Family Feels, Family Loss, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Team as Family, mentions of Amy Preston
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:13:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21729607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/interstellarbeams/pseuds/interstellarbeams
Summary: Lucy throws a Christmas party but even though she is surrounded by those she loves, one important person is missing.
Relationships: Amy Preston & Lucy Preston, Rufus Carlin & Jiya, Wyatt Logan & Lucy Preston, Wyatt Logan/Lucy Preston
Comments: 16
Kudos: 34





	the brightest star

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Katie for being so quick to get this back to me!
> 
> This was supposed to be just fluff but then emotions got entangled in it somehow.
> 
> For Lyattverse on Twitter’s December Lyatt Week — turned into more Bunker Family Feels but I hope it’s still a good read.☺️
> 
> Kudos and comments are appreciated! 💕

“Rufus? Could you stop that please?” 

Lucy pleaded as she looked up at him from her seat on the couch, where he stood by the lit Christmas tree juggling a few of the fragile vintage glass ornaments that she had purchased at an exorbitant price from Etsy. Lucy would have preferred the ornaments that had been a part of her childhood Christmas tree, but that had all been lost in an auction and were nevertheless tainted by her mother’s memory and diehard devotion to Rittenhouse. Now she had new memories to make with her children, her husband and her new family.

“Rufus!” she whispered harshly, glancing over at the kitchen table where the girls were decorating sugar cookies with Deni. “I already have two children, I don’t need a third. Please put those down.”

“OK, OK, yeesh, take it easy, Ms. Turnbull.” Rufus set the ornaments back down in their crumpled paper tray, the plastic film on the box window crinkling as he shimmied it on. 

Lucy had no idea who Ms. Turnbull was but by the look on Rufus’s face, it wasn’t a compliment. 

“Thank you,” she replied, accepting the box from him and gently setting it down beside her on the couch. 

“Where’s Wyatt anyways?” Rufus asked as he perched on the couch arm next to her, smoothing a hand down his dark wash jeans and straightening the cuffs of the button-up shirt he wore under his trademark burgundy hoodie, made festive by the length of gold tinsel that Flynn had wrapped around his neck like a flower lei when he arrived. Apparently she had seen _Lilo & Stitch_ one too many times. 

“He went to get the food. I already told you that.” Lucy refrained from rolling her eyes and bent back over the box of ornaments, tangled light strands, tinsel and tins of Christmases past. 

“Oh, yeah, that’s right. Didn’t you order sandwiches from that sub shop down the street? I wonder what’s taking him so long. I’m freaking starving,” Rufus rambled on, hardly pausing for breath between sentences.

“OK, Mr. Drama Queen,” Jiya’s dry, slightly amused voice drifted across the room as she rounded the couch and wrapped an arm around Rufus’ shoulders, “You’re not gonna starve. Besides there's some extra cookies on the stove. I’m sure Lucy wouldn’t mind if you had a few.” 

“Sure, sure, go ahead.” Lucy mouthed a grateful _thank you_ in Jiya’s direction as she pulled Rufus up off the couch and led him toward the kitchen and out of Lucy’s hair. 

“Mommy!” Amy walked over, carefully balancing a paper plate in both hands as she crossed into the living room from the kitchen and presented a heavily frosted and sprinkled confection for Lucy’s perusal. “Look what I made.”

“Oh, sweetie! It’s beautiful.”

“Thank you.” Amy wrapped an arm around Lucy’s neck in a grateful hug, almost sending the heavy cookie off the side of the plate and into Lucy’s lap. She caught it and righted it seconds before she became frosting bedecked. Not exactly the look she was going for with the cream cashmere sweater she wore, but it was her own fault for forgetting just how messy two little girls could be, especially when bright-colored frosting was involved. 

The back door opened suddenly and Wyatt walked through, balancing a few plastic-covered trays in his arms in a surprisingly similar manner to his daughter. As he set them down on the kitchen counter, the slam of the door closing echoed in the room.

“There you are, man! _Finally!_ “

Lucy stood up and made her way into the kitchen. Amy followed behind her and sat back down next to Flynn, who was still bent over her cookie at the kitchen table. She squeezed around Rufus, who was blocking the space between the refrigerator and the end of the kitchen island. His attention was on the food, distracted as he was by the smells emanating from the warm tin tray that Wyatt pulled out of a bag hanging off his arm. 

“Let me help you with that,” Denise offered as she stood from the table and moved Rufus out of the way with a stern glare and a flapping motion, just like any motherly figure would do. Lucy admired Denise’s ability to shoo Rufus away without even trying and smiled over at Jiya, who smiled back with satisfied glee at Rufus’s disgruntled groan as he went back into the living room.

Jiya reached for a cookie on the cooling rack and brought it to the table with her, her pristine white tee and gossamer sequin crop top filling Lucy with a feeling akin to horror as the twins crowded around her, green and red frosting smearing the corners of their mouths and the tips of their fingers. _Oh well, I told her the girls were decorating cookies_ , Lucy thought to herself as she turned her attention back to the sandwiches and ignored her concern for Jiya’s soon-to-be disastrous cookie-decorating/outfit-ruining experience.

“And leave those ornaments alone until after we eat,” Denise called after Rufus, winking at Lucy as she stepped closer to lift the covers off of the black plastic trays. 

Wyatt watched the scene with barely veiled amusement, a smirk lifting one corner of his lips as he removed his coat and hung it on the peg by the door before stepping up behind Lucy. His hands were warm and she could feel the heat through the sleeves of her sweater as he kissed the top of her head then bent to kiss Denise’s cheek in a familiar manner that should have felt awkward since she was his boss but didn’t because they were also a family. 

“Now, I’m gonna get out of your way before I’m on the receiving end of one of Denise’s pointed glares.” Wyatt chuckled when Lucy pinched his side, the feeling barely there when she missed, mostly grabbing at his shirt because of his quick dodge out of the way. 

Denise shook her head, a small smile lifting her lips, as she arranged the sandwiches on a large platter that would harbor a large, glistening golden-brown turkey in a few weeks if Lucy wasn't such a mess in the kitchen.

“Oh, Wyatt! Did you remember the wine?” Lucy called after him, huffing under her breath when the sound of the TV turning on in the living room drowned out her voice and Rufus immediately delved into a conversation with her husband. 

“Guess not,” she mumbled to herself as she reached into a nearby cabinet for extra paper plates, wondering why she had willing decided to throw such a stress-inducing party. Usually, she wasn’t quite so wound up and she didn’t like it one bit.

“Lucy,” Denise’s warm voice drew Lucy’s attention away from her tumbling thoughts and she turned her head to catch her eye. “It’ll be OK if everything isn’t perfect. The holidays are stressful enough without worrying about every little thing that could go wrong. Just relax. Besides, you’re doing a better job than I did the first time I hosted Michelle’s parents at our house. I burnt the rolls. I nearly sent the turkey flying onto the rug and I almost twisted my ankle in my attempt to be the woman I thought they wanted me to be — a glamorous, successful homemaker — not the sensible, low-heel-wearing agent that I am.”

“Oh, well, you’re just describing my average Tuesday.”

“Exactly. See, you have nothing to worry about.” 

Lucy laughed, relief and self-deprecating humor bringing her out of her furious worry tempest and reminding her that everything wasn’t as serious as she imagined. 

She and Denise arranged the sandwiches on the platter before lining them up on the kitchen island, with plates, bowls and plastic silverware on one side and the food on the other, including the chili that Denise had so kindly offered to bring to go with their sandwiches. The faint hiss of a soda bottle being opened broke through the normal hubbub of a holiday gathering and a drawer rattled as Wyatt dug through it in search of the corkscrew. 

“I guess we’re ready.” Lucy looked to Denise for affirmation.

“I think so.” 

Lucy popped up on tiptoe trying to see over Wyatt and catching sight of Rufus in the living room, she waved him over.

“Rufus, why don’t you say a few words?” Lucy asked, rubbing a hand along his arm as he stepped into the kitchen and he nodded, his normal bright grin subdued as he surveyed the group that hung around the fringes of the kitchen. 

Denise stood with one arm around Flynn, Jiya propped Amy up on one hip and Lucy moved to wrap an arm around Wyatt’s waist as they looked expectantly toward Rufus, who cleared his throat and shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Well, I’m not one for speeches. Usually that’s Wyatt’s territory.” He paused to let their faint chuckles fade. “But I just wanted to say thank you to everyone here for always being there for me and for each other as a group. Family isn’t always who you’re born to but who you choose … and I know it wasn’t my decision that brought us together — we have Denise to thank for that — but I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to know and love. So, uh, Merry Christmas and _bah humbug_.” 

Lucy rolled her eyes at Rufus’s ending line, but she knew he was only teasing. He enjoyed pushing their buttons, but everything else he had said touched her heart and she reached over and wrapped him in a hug.

“Thank you,” she whispered so only he could hear.

“You’re welcome,” Rufus murmured before moving around her to get in line for the food.

Lucy huffed in exasperation, but she couldn’t expect anything else from Rufus, especially when he had been bemoaning his hunger since he arrived. 

“Oh, Deni, you don’t have to do that. I can get the girls’ food.”

“Nonsense. What’s the point of being the grandma if I can’t behave like one?” Denise winked, balancing two bowls in one hand as she gave the girls their sandwich plates. 

“Thank you,” the twins replied, their voices rising in unison.

“You’re welcome, darlings.” 

“Here, what would you like Denise? I’ll fix yours.”

“I’ll just take some chili. Thank you Lucy.” 

Lucy nodded before lining up behind Jiya, who had thankfully managed to escape the cookie decorating unscathed.

“Smile.” Jiya pulled out her phone and wrapped her arm around Lucy’s waist. She caught a quick glimpse of herself in the screen, her carefully constructed bun loosening from the pins she had pushed into it, before Jiya was taking the photo and pulling away, shoving her phone into her back pocket. 

Lucy couldn’t help but think about her sister, Amy, and how she would have done the same exact thing if she were here. She was incredibly lucky to have the friends and family that she had, but the crevices in her heart, where the pain of missing her sister resided, couldn’t be filled by anyone but her and it was especially hard to not remember her when surrounded by all those that she loved. There was a spot missing and it would _always_ be there. 

_She should be here_ , Lucy thought to herself, her never-ending grief resurfacing before she was being pulled from her thoughts by a soft touch to her back.

“Hey, you OK?” Wyatt’s warm, woodsy cologne wrapped around her like a cozy blanket on a winter's day and she quickly wiped at the tears she hadn’t realized were slipping down her face.

“I’m sorry. Yeah, I’m OK. I just ... I was thinking about Amy, that’s all.”

Wyatt’s eyebrows drew together and he pulled her closer. She knew that he commiserated with her but _sorrys_ didn’t cut it and wouldn’t bring her sister back, so he kept quiet and offered her solace through his presence instead. 

“I’m OK.” She looked up at him after a few minutes, the two of them standing in the middle of the kitchen. “I’ll just … I’ll just be a minute.”

She excused herself from the room and walked towards the stairs, avoiding the concerned looks of her friends and forgetting about her promise to fix Denise a bowl of chili.

Each step up toward her room seemed to add another weight of grief to her feet. She tried not to give into it, especially with her guests waiting downstairs, but a sob escaped as she rounded the top of the stairs. She grabbed the newel post hoping it would anchor her, but nothing could pull her back from the brink.

When she finally caught her breath and felt like she could move without being weighed down by her pain, she crossed to the master bedroom. 

Digging through the drawers of her bureau, she finally found what she was looking for — the one Christmas ornament she had managed to take from her mother’s home. A small white porcelain star, the silver filigree edges fading from the years that it had been handled by her, with the words ‘Baby’s First Christmas’ etched across the top. The baby picture that had once been inside was no more, stolen by the mystery of Amy’s disappearance, but Lucy traced her finger along the engraved writing as she cradled it in her other hand. 

It was Amy’s ornament. The one Lucy had helped her mom pick out in a Hallmark store many years ago. Lucy sniffed as she looked down at it, memories of all the Christmases she had shared with Amy before she was gone flitting through her head. She smiled, remembering the excitement Amy had exhibited every Christmas Eve, peppering Lucy with questions about Santa Claus and his flying reindeer, trying to pry gift information from her when she was a teenager and the quiet Christmas they had spent together when they thought their mom was soon to leave their lives, never knowing or comprehending the cataclysm that would rock her world and leave her alone, without her sister. 

Lucy turned toward the bed, shifted to the side some papers still left to grade for the semester and took their place on the edge of the bed. 

She sat there for a moment or two, lost in thought, when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs, their covert approach not as quiet as they thought. 

Flynn peered in the door before Amy crept up behind her. They pushed their hair out of their faces, the fine strands crackling with static electricity before they turned to each other and then raced into the room to climb onto the bed and snuggle up, one on each side.

“Hi. Mommy’s sorry. She didn’t mean to leave you downstairs so long.” 

“It’s OK, Mommy.”

“Yeah. We don’t want you to cry, Mommy.” 

“Oh, I know, sweetie.” Lucy pressed a kiss to the top of each of their heads. “I don’t want to cry either.”

“Why are you sad, Mommy?” Amy tilted her head to look up into her face, a stripe of green frosting smearing her cheek. 

“I was thinking about my sister, Amy, who you’re named after.” 

“Why?” Flynn asked, squirming closer to get a look at the ornament that rested in Lucy’s lap.

“Because it’s Christmas and we used to have many wonderful Christmases together.” 

“You miss her?”

“Yes, of course. I love her and I miss her all the time.”

“I’m sorry.” Flynn scrunched her nose up for a moment, thinking, before she reached for Lucy’s locket that hung around her neck. 

She popped it open after a moment of struggle, but Lucy didn’t offer any help, knowing the independent Flynn wouldn’t like it.

“Amy?” Amy’s namesake tilted her head to the side to see inside the small locket better before pointing at the tiny snapshot inside. 

“Yes. That’s her. She was the brightest star in my life, until I met your daddy and had you girls.” 

Amy nodded sagely while Flynn looked like she wanted to ask another question, but Lucy started speaking before either one could interrupt.

“She was the cutest little baby. I thought she was born just so I could take care of her. I was 9, almost 10, when she was born and I wanted to do everything that my mom would let me to help. I wanted to change her clothes, give her a bath, play with her, even change her diapers.” 

“Eww!” The girl’s made disgusted faces and Lucy couldn’t help but laugh, her sadness forgotten as she spoke to her daughters about their aunt.

“She would have changed the world if —” Lucy caught herself, “that podcast of hers would have succeeded because she believed in it. Amy believed strongly about everything. She was all heart. That’s why she loved Christmas so much. It is all about believing.” 

“Mommy? Will you put her ornament on the tree later?” 

Lucy looked down at the open locket and the empty frame in the center of the star ornament, thinking. 

“Maybe. Thank you. For cheering me up. I love you two so much.” Lucy snuggled the girls close for a few minutes. “How about we go back downstairs and join the others? I’ll be right there, OK?”

“OK!” Flynn hopped up before grabbing ahold of Amy’s hand and practically dragging her from the room, their Christmas red cardigans flying out behind them like capes as they ran. 

Lucy stood up. She laid the ornament down on the bed carefully before she reached into her closet and pulled out a comfortable red sweater that had been a gift from Amy at the last Christmas they had shared. Changing clothes quickly, she scooped up the ornament and carefully removed the picture from her locket before placing it inside the star ornament. She smiled down at it for a minute — her younger face smiled back at her from the photo with her little sister grinning beside her — then she placed a kiss on her finger and pressed it to the image of her sister.

—————

Lucy walked down the stairs and into the living room, expecting everyone to be waiting for her. The noises emanating from the kitchen drew her attention and she stepped around the couch, the ornament clutched tightly in one hand.

“Hey, there you are!” Rufus called, turning to face her with a bag of mini marshmallows in his hands.

“We made hot chocolate.” Wyatt added, the concerned frown he had worn earlier easing into a smile when he caught sight of her.

“For me?” Lucy asked, the warmth of their kindness and love filling her up as her eyes filled with tears.

“Of course.” Denise replied as she stepped to her side and offered her a mug. 

“It’s my dad’s recipe.” Jiya replied, shooting a soft smile her way from her place in front of the stove, “I hope you like it. He always used a secret ingredient.” 

Lucy lifted the mug to her lips with one hand, the warmth seeping into her hand and the inviting chocolate scent making her mouth water before she took a small sip.

“It’s perfect. Thank you. Thank you for being here. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ruin the party.”

“No, honey, of course not. You didn’t ruin anything,” Wyatt added, looking up from the small mugs of hot cocoa he was fixing for the girls. 

“We have food, drinks and a Christmas tree that still needs decorating. It’s still a party,” Rufus nodded emphatically, his face lit up with a smile at Lucy’s brightening features. 

“You’re right. It is still a party. And I … I have the first ornament right here.” Lucy lifted the baby ornament for them to see. 

They all smiled while the twins looked on, understanding dawning on Flynn’s face when she saw that her mommy had taken her idea to heart. Lucy grinned back — her girl’s excitement transferring to her — and she knew that everything would be okay. 

Her sister would always be in her heart and in her thoughts, especially on Christmas, but somehow, it didn’t hurt anymore to think of her.

—————

“Ugh,” Wyatt complained, pushing his sleeves up, “these fake trees are so prickly. I look like I got clawed by a cat.” 

“I think you’re forgetting how much sap is in a real tree. And the branches are just as rough, but instead of plastic, it’s real wood,” Lucy piped up, straightening the hook on her sparkling glass ball.

“Well, I still stand by my earlier statement that all Christmas trees should be real and smell like they belong in an evergreen forest.” 

“That’s what candles are for, Wyatt.” Jiya replied, with a _no duh_ attitude. Rufus grinned at her sass, high-fiving her before he reached over her head to hang an ornament high on the fake tree. 

“Wyatt’s like a grandpa. Complaining about the commercialism of Christmas and why trees should only be one color: green,” Rufus snickered, sharing a smile with Jiya.

“Unless they’re covered in snow.” Wyatt pointed at them, as if the waving of his finger helped make his point. “I don’t want any of these orange trees, pink monstrosities or purple ones that you order online. Whatever happened to cutting down your own tree at a Christmas tree farm?” 

“Yeah, Lucy, you’re the historian. Whatever happened to them?”

Lucy tilted her head, making sure that her ornament hung in the perfect place before answering. “Not true that they’ve disappeared. There’s a Christmas tree farm off Route 5.” 

“See.” Wyatt looked smug and then grimaced as he pulled his hand back from the Christmas tree that had scratched him again.

“Wyatt wants to go all George Washington on a Christmas tree — ax, sweat and all.” Rufus mimed chopping down a tree, his trademark laugh making the girls giggle from their place by the floor of the tree where they “helped” with the lower branches.

“Did you know that story was a myth? George Washington never cut down a cherry tree,” Lucy lauded them with another historic fact, waving her hand while everyone except for the twins groaned good-naturedly. 

“It wasn’t me this time,” Wyatt laughed while Rufus tried to swat at him from the other side of the tree.

“Boys,” Denise warned, lifting her gaze from the box that held the Christmas tree angel.

“Better behave,” Jiya winked at Lucy, “Santa doesn’t bring presents to naughty boys.” 

Flynn looked between Lucy and her aunt, her eyes wide at their teasing. Amy tapped her finger against a dark lightbulb when it suddenly blinked back on and she smiled with delight before bending to whisper in her sister’s ear.

“Really?” Flynn pulled back, staring at the newly bright bulb in awe.

“Lucy? I thought you were going to get mistletoe,” Wyatt called, a smirk lifting one corner of his mouth. Lucy stepped closer, resting one hand against his chest and leaning in close.

“I didn’t because I don’t need an excuse to kiss you. I can do it whenever I want.”

“Is that right?” 

“Mhmm.”

The others ignored their PDA in favor of getting the Christmas angel on top of the tree while the girls dragged the tinsel out of the box and trailed it across the rug. Rufus and Jiya started a tinsel fight, while Flynn and Amy tried to get in on the fun despite their bad aim and their uncontrollable giggling that distracted them before they were scooped up by their aunt and uncle and twirled around the room. Lucy’s favorite classical Christmas music blared from the bluetooth speaker, laughter the perfect accompaniment. 

The ornament with Amy’s picture rested in a prime spot watching over the proceedings, front and center of the tree, while they finished decorating and sipped Jiya’s dad’s special cinnamon hot cocoa. 

Lucy liked to think that Amy was happy and smiling wherever she was, celebrating her sister’s happiness, and maybe, just maybe she was shining like the North Star above them.


End file.
